UPSC ESE Answer Key 2027: Prelims Provisional Key Challenge

Under the ESE 2027 notice, candidates can make representations on the Prelims questions and on the Provisional Answer Keys of the objective papers for five days, from the 3rd day of the examination date to 06:00 P.M. of the 7th day. The Prelims is on 31 January 2027, so no 2027 key has been published yet. The ESE 2026 notice allowed representations on the questions only, over 7 days from the day after the exam.

How to challenge the ESE 2027 provisional answer key

• Where: log in to https://upsconline.nic.in and use 'Examinations > Representations on Question Paper & Provisional Answer Keys', as section 8 of Examination Notice No. 02/2027-ENGG. says.
• What: the questions in the papers, and the provisional keys of the objective papers. Both Prelims papers are objective; the Main papers are conventional.
• Not accepted: anything sent by eMail, post or hand, or anything after the five days. UPSC will not correspond on representations. The notice mentions no fee.
• Counting the days: UPSC's time-frame notice gives the example of a single-day exam on 1st March, with representations from 4 March to 8 March (till 6:00 p.m.).

ESE Prelims marking scheme and how to score yourself

Stage-I has two objective papers for 500 marks: Paper-I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude), 2 hrs, 200 marks, and Paper-II in your discipline (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical or Electronics & Telecommunication), 3 hrs, 300 marks. The 2026 booklets had 100 items in Paper-I and 150 in the Civil Engineering Paper-II, with all items carrying equal marks, so each question was worth 2 marks.

• Each wrong answer loses one-third of that question's marks, about 0.67 at 2 marks a question.
• Two or more answers to a question count as wrong; a blank answer costs nothing.
• No calculators are allowed in the objective papers.
• Marks are rounded off to two decimal digits.

Score per paper = 2 x correct minus about 0.67 x wrong. The sum matters twice. First, UPSC sets minimum qualifying marks in both Paper-I and Paper-II to pick Main candidates, about six to seven times the vacancies; ESE 2027 expects approximately 480. Second, the Prelims marks of those who qualify are counted in the final order of merit.

What happens after the representations?

The 2027 notice gives no date for a final key. In the 2026 cycle, the Prelims result note of 26 February 2026 said Prelims marks and cut-off marks would be uploaded on https://upsc.gov.in only after the final result. That result is due after interviews ending 30 October 2026. UPSC posts the question papers on the exam page; the ESE 2026 Prelims papers went up on 9 February 2026 and the Main papers on 22 June 2026.

The Main (Stage-II) has two conventional papers of 300 marks each, so there is no answer key to check. In the 2025 cycle, the final result came on 17 December 2025, cut-off marks on 19 December 2025 and the marks of recommended candidates on 30 December 2025.

ESE answer keys and representations in recent cycles